Font cache and meta-fonts

Abstract

Methods and systems for managing the access and display of characters from one or more fonts may include initializing a storage space (e.g., a font cache) in a computer memory. The storage space may store information for select characters from the one or more fonts, allowing easy access by a font management routine. In the meantime, a second storage space (e.g., hard disk or DVD) stores information relating to all the characters from one or more fonts, which may be contained in one or more files. The font management routine receives an indication of a desired character to be rendered and determines whether the desired character is currently stored in the first storage space, the font management routine (or a related routine) may load the desired character from the second storage space into the first storage space.

1 . A method in a computer for managing the access and display of characters associated with an application causing the display of the characters, wherein the characters are arranged into at least one font group, the method comprising: 
 initializing a first storage space in a memory of the computer, wherein the first storage space includes storage for information for a predetermined number of characters included in the at least one font group;    storing information associated with the at least one font group in a second storage space associated with the computer, wherein the second storage space is distinct from the memory of the computer, and wherein the second storage space stores information for all the characters included in the at least one font group;    receiving an indication of a character to be rendered from the at least one font group;    determining whether the character to be rendered is currently stored in the first storage space; and    if the character to be rendered is not currently stored in the first storage space, loading the character to be rendered into the first storage space.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1   wherein the application is a game application,    wherein the character to be rendered is displayed by the application as a three-dimensional character in a two-dimensional space,    wherein information associated with the at least one font group, as stored in the second storage space, includes at least one font bitmap file and at least one font information file that stores metadata relating to the characters of the at least one font group,    wherein first storage space includes a font cache and a font information table,    wherein the font cache stores bitmap information for at least one character, wherein the bitmap information for the at least one character is obtained from the at least one font bitmap file,    wherein the font information table stores metadata relating to the at least one character,    wherein the metadata for the at least one character is obtained from the at least one font information file, and    wherein the bitmap information and the metadata for the at least one character, as stored in the first memory, is used in rendering the at least one character.    
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1   wherein information associated with the at least one font group, as stored in the second storage space, includes: 
 a first font bitmap file relating to a first font,  
 a second font bitmap file relating to a second font,  
 a first font information file relating to the first font,  
 a second font information file relating the second font;  
   wherein first storage space includes a font cache and a font information table;    wherein the font cache stores bitmap information for at least one character; and    wherein the font information table stores metadata relating to the at least one character.    
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the at least one font group includes a meta-font comprised of two or more fonts that are accessed by the application from the first storage space as a single font entity.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein first storage space includes a font cache and a font information table, wherein the font cache stores bitmap information for some of the characters in the at least one font group, wherein the font information table stores metadata relating to some of the characters in the at least one font group, and wherein determining whether the character to be rendered is currently stored in the first storage space includes: 
 determining whether the character to be rendered currently has a corresponding entry in the font information table; and    if the character to be rendered currently has a corresponding entry in the font information table, determining the status of the corresponding entry.    
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein first storage space includes a font cache and a font information table, wherein the font cache stores bitmap information for some of the characters in the at least one font group, wherein the font information table stores metadata relating to some of the characters in the at least one font group, and wherein determining whether the character to be rendered is currently stored in the first storage space includes: 
 loading bitmap information associated with the character into the font cache; and    loading metadata associated with the character into the font information table.    
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising removing information for a previously rendered character from the first storage area before loading the at least one character so that the predetermined number of characters is not exceeded.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1   wherein the information for all the characters included in the font as stored in the second storage space includes at least one font bitmap file and at least one font information file that stores metadata relating the characters in the at least one font group, and    wherein first storage space includes a font cache, a font information table, and a priority queue.    
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the at least one font group includes a meta-font comprised of two or more fonts that are accessed by the application from the first storage space as a single font entity, wherein a first one of the two or more fonts includes characters that are offset during rendering to maintain consistency in appearance with characters of a second one of the two or more fonts.  
   
   
       10 . A system for managing an application's access to character information used in representing text, wherein the character information defines characters organized into one or more fonts, the system comprising: 
 a storage medium that is at least indirectly accessible by the application, wherein the storage medium stores information for all the characters of one or more fonts;    a font cache system for storing information for a predetermined number of characters of the one or more fonts, wherein the font cache system is configured to enable the application to access information from the font cache system more quickly than it accesses information from the storage medium; and    a font management component configured for managing the contents of the font cache system, including loading character information from the first storage medium to the font cache system when character information for a character to be rendered is not currently stored in the font cache system.    
   
   
       11 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the storage medium includes space on a hard disk associated with the computer on which the application is running.  
   
   
       12 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the first storage medium includes space on a removable disk associated with a computer on which the application is running.  
   
   
       13 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the font cache system is created as an instance when the application is initialized.  
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the font cache system includes a cache that stores bitmap information for a predetermined number of characters from the one or more fonts.  
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the font cache system includes a font information entity that stores metadata related to select characters of the one or more fonts.  
   
   
       16 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the font cache system includes a font information entity that stores offset data related to select characters of the one or more fonts.  
   
   
       17 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the font cache system includes: 
 a cache configured to store bitmap data relating to select characters of the one or more fonts;    a font information entity that stores offset data related to select characters of the one or more fonts; and    a priority queue to manage the order that character information is added and removed from the font cache system.    
   
   
       18 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the font cache system includes a font information entity that stores status information relating to whether select characters are accessible from the font cache.  
   
   
       19 . A computer-readable medium containing instructions for performing a method comprising: 
 initializing a cache entity in a memory of a computer, wherein the cache entity stores information for a predetermined number of characters included in one or more fonts;    storing information associated with the one or more fonts in a storage space associated with the computer, wherein the storage space is separate from the memory of the computer, and wherein the storage space stores information for all the characters included in the one or more fonts;    receiving an indication of a character to be rendered from the one or more fonts;    determining whether the character to be rendered is currently stored in the cache entity; and    if the character to be rendered is not currently stored in the cache entity, loading the character to be rendered into the cache entity.    
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19  wherein the computer-readable medium is part of a game application including three-dimensional graphics that are displayable in a two-dimensional space.